Edit IM Service Provider

Use this dialog box to add an instant messaging (IM) service provider.

Note: Public IM connectivity requires the purchase of additional service licenses and provisioning the connections using the Microsoft Provisioning site.

Allow this IM service provider

Select this check box to make this IM service provider available to your users.

IM service provider name

The name by which you want the provider to appear in the IM provider table.

Network address of the IM service provider Access Edge

The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Access Edge Server of the IM service provider.

This is a public IM service provider

Select this check box if this is a public IM service provider (for example, MSN, AOL, or Yahoo). Otherwise, clear the check box.

Select an option for filtering incoming communications

Allow communications only from users on recipient's contact list. This setting means you do not trust verification levels asserted by the IM service provider. If you choose this option, the Access Edge Server marks all incoming presence subscription requests as unverified. If the sender is already on the recipient's Allow list, the internal server will respond to that request. Otherwise, the request is rejected. Similarly, requests for an IM session that are marked unverified are rejected by the client.

Allow communications only from users verified by this provider. This setting is the default. It means you trust the IM service provider's verification level and handle incoming messages accordingly. Requests marked as unverified are handled as described for the previous option. Requests marked as verified are handled as described for the following option.

Allow all communications from this provider. This setting means that you accept all messages regardless of whether they are verified or not. If you choose this option, the Access Edge Server marks all messages as verified. The recipient's home pool or server notifies the client, and all messages are handled according to settings on the client. In the case of presence subscription requests, the following settings determine how the message is handled:

• Allow: The sender's request is accepted and the sender will be able to see the recipient's presence information.

• Block: The request is rejected.

• Prompt: The recipient is asked whether to allow the sender to see presence information.

In the case of IM invitations, the response depends on the client software. The request is accepted unless external senders are explicitly blocked by a user-configured rule (that is, in the user Allow and Block list). In addition, IM invitations can be blocked if a user has elected to block all IM from users who are not on his or her Allow list.

Learn More Online

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For details, see the Operations section of the Office Communications Server Technical Library.